Safety harnesses or harnesses which can be used to restrain the movement of the wearer of such harness are not new in and of themselves. One of the earliest devices that was patented was the baby exercising corset patented by Tardy and disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 149,692. This particular device was for use in assisting the baby in walking and consisted of a corset secured about the torso of an infant with two cords E attached to the upper edge of the corset. Each of the cords E may be grasped by an adult so as to support the child in an erect position.
This manually held type of supportive device is also disclosed in Crocker, U.S. Pat. No. 1,749,999 where the hand-held straps 6 are secured to the upper rear portion of the body band adapted to be secured about the torso of a child.
More recently, Zimmerman, U.S. Pat. No. 4,666,017, discloses an infant harness having a waistband, a back piece, a pair of shoulder straps, and a tether. This tether is secured to the back piece of the harness, at approximately waist-level. It can be appreciated from this particular invention that the purpose is not meant to be the vertical support of the child as was the case in Tardy or Crocker, but more of a horizontal restraint to prevent the child from running away from the individual holding the single-strap tether.
Safety harnesses also have involved devices which in addition to being secured the torso of an individual are secured in part through the legs. Examples of such harnesses are Hogan, U.S. Pat. No, 2,871,915and Hutchings, U.S. Pat. No. 4,922,860 of these devices disclose somewhat more elaborate harnesses which in the case of Hogan are then utilized with relatively heavy mechanical supporting devices to assist in supporting the wearer.
Some of the harnesses also utilize hand grips for the wearer, with examples of these being the baby walking aid of Olivett et al, U.S. Pat. No. 3,237,939 and Brown et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,120,287. Both of these devices disclose harnesses having a plurality of parts and which are designed to have the wearer hold a hand grip fabricated as part of the harness itself. Safety harnesses also have included the construction shown in Steinbrueck, U.S. Pat. No. 5,242,380. While similar to that of Crocker, it should be appreciated that this particular harness is used with some type of elevated support means such as a ceiling.
While safety harnesses of the types described above have often been used to assist an individual in walking, or in the elimination of discomfort in the back region, and in the actual restraint of motion as disclosed in Zimmerman, some safety harnesses have been devised for use in training a child in the riding of a bicycle. An example of this type of safety harness is the patent to Pearson, U.S. Pat. No. 5,226,820. This particular device shows a handle connected to a single loop, which loop is selectively adjusted about the child's waist to provide a means to assist in the support and control the balance the child as he learns to ride a bicycle.
One thing which most of the prior art restraints have in common is a relatively complex and costly structure which makes the use of such devices relatively cumbersome, or at the very least mildly burdensome for both the wearer and any individual who assists in the stabilization of the user of the device. Additionally, many of the devices, although purportedly useful in assisting with the maintenance of the balance of the wearer, can be appreciated as being slightly deficient in that regard.
Therefore, it would be desirable to have a safety harness which is of both a simple construction and easy to use.